Adebayo v. State, 061019 MNCA, A18-0940
| Opinion Judge | COCHRAN, JUDGE. |
| Party Name | Michael Opeoluwa Adebayo, petitioner, Appellant, v. State of Minnesota, Respondent. |
| Attorney | Herbert A. Igbanugo, Jason A. Nielson, Igbanugo Partners Int'l Law Firm, Minneapolis, Minnesota (for appellant) Keith Ellison, Attorney General, St. Paul, Minnesota; and John J. Choi, Ramsey County Attorney, Adam E. Petras, Assistant County Attorney, St. Paul, Minnesota (for respondent) |
| Judge Panel | Considered and decided by Cochran, Presiding Judge; Hooten, Judge; and Reyes, Judge. |
| Case Date | June 10, 2019 |
| Court | Minnesota Court of Appeals |
This opinion will be unpublished and may not be cited except as provided by Minn. Stat. § 480A.08, subd. 3 (2018).
Ramsey County District Court File No. 62-CR-17-4154
Herbert A. Igbanugo, Jason A. Nielson, Igbanugo Partners Int'l Law Firm, Minneapolis, Minnesota (for appellant)
Keith Ellison, Attorney General, St. Paul, Minnesota; and John J. Choi, Ramsey County Attorney, Adam E. Petras, Assistant County Attorney, St. Paul, Minnesota (for respondent)
Considered and decided by Cochran, Presiding Judge; Hooten, Judge; and Reyes, Judge.
COCHRAN, JUDGE.
Appellant Michael Opeoluwa Adebayo filed a petition for postconviction relief, asserting that his plea was invalid. On appeal, Adebayo challenges the postconviction court's decision to deny his petition without holding an evidentiary hearing. Because Adebayo failed to allege facts in his petition that, if true, would entitle him to relief, we affirm.
FACTS
The state charged appellant Michael Opeoluwa Adebayo with simple robbery under Minn. Stat. § 609.24 (2016) for an incident that occurred on February 9, 2017. The complaint alleged that Adebayo was "dancing around" the aisle on a light rail train, appeared nervous, and kept looking at K.M., a passenger on the train. As the train doors began to close at a stop, Adebayo grabbed K.M.'s phone and ran off the train. K.M. chased after Adebayo and caught him. Adebayo punched and kicked K.M. before K.M. was able to take his phone back from Adebayo. K.M. called 911, reported the incident, and described Adebayo.
Adebayo later admitted to police that he took K.M.'s phone. Adebayo told police that he had decided to "play a game" with K.M. because he thought that K.M. was someone that he knew from high school. He stated that he realized K.M. was not his classmate just before K.M. tackled him. When Adebayo was shown a video recording of the incident, he denied fighting K.M. He claimed that K.M. was "leaching onto" him and that he gave the phone back to K.M.
Adebayo pleaded guilty to simple robbery on July 28, 2017. The plea was entered pursuant to an agreement that called for a stay of imposition of sentence. Adebayo's public defender (the public defender) was not available at the plea hearing, so another public defender (the substitute attorney) appeared with Adebayo. At the plea hearing, the district court asked Adebayo whether he was "pleading guilty to this charge freely and voluntarily," and Adebayo responded "correct." The district court asked Adebayo whether he was "thinking clearly today," and Adebayo responded "yes."
Adebayo also submitted a plea petition at the plea hearing. The petition included a series of statements about the circumstances of the plea and Adebayo's understanding of the rights given up by entering a guilty plea. Adebayo checked a box on the petition that indicated that he had been a patient in a mental hospital, but there was no indication on the petition of when he had been hospitalized. At the plea hearing, he also testified that he went over the petition line by line with his attorney that afternoon and that he understood the constitutional rights that he was waiving by pleading guilty.
Adebayo then testified about the charged incident and the facts that made him guilty of simple robbery. Adebayo explained that he and other people from his high school "play games" with each other on the bus lines. He claimed that he was not "100-percent" himself that day and that he was acting in an "e-got-tic" way, meaning that he was acting with an "overbearing ego." He admitted that he took K.M.'s phone but stated that he gave it back to K.M. after he "rethought the situation." At that point, the district court interrupted Adebayo's testimony and said to Adebayo's attorney that it could not accept a guilty plea from Adebayo if he claimed to be innocent. Without consulting with his attorney, Adebayo immediately responded to the court, "Oh, I did, definitely, then. I did, I did take the phone out of the individual's hand. I did steal his phone." In response to questioning, Adebayo stated that he did not know K.M., that he used some manner of force to take K.M.'s phone, and that he ran off the train. The district court accepted Adebayo's guilty plea and scheduled a sentencing hearing.
A presentence-investigation report (PSI) was prepared before the sentencing hearing. Adebayo told the PSI writer that he took K.M.'s phone because he thought he knew K.M. and that he was "just playing." Adebayo told the PSI writer that he enjoyed working out, music, and "switching characters." When asked about his future goals, Adebayo told the PSI writer, "I am a confirmed being of the earth; a said being and travel experiment. It's a different motion of advancement. Man vs. wild." Adebayo also told the PSI writer that he had been hospitalized for mental-health issues about two months before the PSI interview. He said that he spent five days in the hospital before being released.
The PSI writer also spoke with Adebayo's aunt. The aunt expressed concern about Adebayo's mental health. She indicated that she recently took Adebayo to the hospital because Adebayo had been engaging in irrational behavior within the past year and because Adebayo had been "ranting about things that make no sense." She claimed that Adebayo refused to take medications at the hospital and that he was released after several days.
Based on the interviews with Adebayo and his aunt, the PSI writer indicated that Adebayo "appears to have mental health issues that have not been addressed." Consequently, the PSI writer recommended that Adebayo complete a mental-health evaluation as a condition of probation.
The district court sentenced Adebayo on September 20, 2017. The public defender appeared with Adebayo. She asked the district court to place Adebayo on a shorter probation period in light of the mental-health concerns noted by the PSI writer.1 The district court stayed imposition of the sentence for five years and placed Adebayo on probation. As a condition of probation, the district court ordered Adebayo to complete a mental-health evaluation and follow the recommendations of the evaluation. Adebayo indicated that he understood that he had to comply with the mental-health evaluation. The district court explained that it was ordering the mental-health evaluation, in part, based on Adebayo's family members' concerns expressed in the PSI. Adebayo replied, "Um, in terms of family, you know, I don't feel that they're efficient enough to make that statement." At the end of the sentencing hearing, the district court asked Adebayo if he understood the sentence, and Adebayo replied, "Yes, I do." The district court asked Adebayo if he had any questions, and Adebayo replied, "No, I do not."
After sentencing, Adebayo retained a private attorney and filed a petition for postconviction relief. In the petition, Adebayo alleged that his plea was not valid because he suffered from mental-health problems. He further alleged that his plea was not valid because he received ineffective assistance of counsel based on his attorney's failure to request a competency evaluation during the criminal proceedings. He asked the postconviction court to allow him to withdraw his guilty plea. He did not request a hearing on the petition.
In support of the petition, Adebayo submitted several exhibits. Exhibits 1 and 2 are the transcripts of the plea and sentencing hearings in this matter. Exhibit 3 is a transcript of a November 13, 2017 bond hearing and a November 16, 2017 master calendar hearing in a federal immigration matter involving Adebayo. These hearings occurred approximately two months after the district court sentenced Adebayo in this matter. Adebayo made combative and illogical statements at the federal hearings. Adebayo expressed a belief that there was a conspiracy against him. The immigration court ultimately scheduled a hearing to assess Adebayo's competency.
Exhibit 4 is an affidavit signed by the public defender dated November 27, 2017. The public defender stated that while she represented him, Adebayo "behaved somewhat strangely and would occasionally make comments that did not seem to be logical during [her] representation of him." But the public defender also said that she was "unaware that he was experiencing delusional thoughts that there was a conspiracy against him." She stated that had she known that Adebayo was having delusional thoughts, she would have requested a competency evaluation.
Exhibit 5 is the PSI prepared in this case. Exhibit 6 is a collection of police reports related to the February 9, 2017 simple robbery to which Adebayo pleaded guilty.
Exhibit 7 is a hospital visit summary. The summary shows that Adebayo was hospitalized for five days in April 2017. Adebayo was diagnosed with "adjustment disorder with mixed disturbance of conduct and emotion" and "intermittent explosive disorder." Adebayo was not prescribed any medications.
In January 2018, Adebayo submitted two additional documents to supplement his postconviction petition. First, Adebayo submitted a collection of medical records generated while he was incarcerated in the Sherburne County Jail from October to December 2017. The medical records indicate that, as of October 26, 2017, Adebayo was showing signs of mental illness. The medical records also show that while incarcerated, his thought content revealed evidence of paranoid delusions and thought disorder. Second, Adebayo submitted a transcript of a December 15, 2017 competency hearing in the federal immigration court matter. At the end of the hearing, the immigration...
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